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Burn injury

Bandas Law Firm Supports National Burn Awareness Week

Bandas Law Firm is proud to support the American Burn Association (ABA) and its 2020 National Burn Awareness Week!

Observed during the first full week of February – February 2 - 8, 2020 – the campaign is designed to promote awareness about burn injuries with a special focus on prevention and public education. Along with its other programs and outreach efforts, the ABA uses observances like #NBAW to garner support for improvements in quality of patient care, and critical research to optimize outcomes for burn-injured patients.

NBAW 2020

Each year, the American Burn Association designates a specific burn-related topic as the “theme” for its annual National Burn Awareness Week. This year, the theme is: Contact Burns.

Among the most common types of burn injuries, contact burns occur when skin touches hot objects or liquid, rather than fire or flames. According to the ABA, contact burns send over 70,000 Americans to the Emergency Room each year, and are especially dangerous for young children, who account for roughly one-third of contact burn patients.

In hopes of raising awareness to prevent these common types of injuries, the ABA has zeroed in on some of the biggest contact burn culprits, including kitchens, fireplaces, hot pavement, and other areas of the home and workplace.

Contact Burn Prevention

Hot objects and liquids are all around us, which makes prevention crucially important to avoiding what can be very serious injuries.

Here are a few contact burn prevention tips:

  • Watch the kids: For adults, it’s often easy to spot hot items and take needed precautions when using them in the home. Children, however, don’t always know when objects are too hot to handle, or how to treat hot products and appliances appropriately. If you have kids in the home, make sure to always supervise them when using appliances, heaters, liquids, and other hazards, and teach them what safe practices look like before they’re ever allowed to use them. That includes irons, hair curlers, and other beauty consumer products that may look like toys. You can also consider creating a “no-kid” zone in more dangerous areas, such as near space heaters, water heaters, oven ranges, and fireplaces to keep kids safely at bay.
  • Cooking and kitchens: An overwhelming majority of burn injuries occur in the home, and most of those injuries arise from everyday items in the kitchen, including stovetops, oven ranges, microwaves, and other appliances and utensils used when we cook. In addition to practicing safe cooking habits (i.e. only using back burners when possible, using oven mitts or potholders, and treating everything that can get hot as if it is hot), experts send a reminder that kids and kitchens don’t mix well. If you have children, never cook while holding a child, and always supervise when they’re handling hot objects or using appliances. No-kid zones – roughly three feet around the kitchen – can also help ensure children don’t get dangerously close to items they may not realize can injure them.
  • Contact burns at work: Whether you’re a thermal nuclear engineer heating chemicals to considerable temperatures or an office worker brewing up a sleep-deprived pot of coffee, workplaces can be filled with many burn hazards. If you work with any equipment that can get hot – be it machinery, engines, or tools – be sure to follow your company’s protocol, used protective equipment or any required PPE, adhere to manufacturer instructions, and let supervisors and co-workers know when there’s a hot-object hazard.
  • Fireplaces: Fireplaces are a common source for burns in the home, which is why you should consider placing a screen or flame-resistant gate in front of them, if you haven’t already. This not only protects against errant embers flying into the house, but also keeps pets and children at a safe distance. If you have glass fireplace doors, be warned they can be very dangerous – reaching temperatures of up to 1300˚F, and taking as long as an hour to fully cool down.
  • Wear protective footwear: As Texans, cooking an egg on asphalt is a rite of passage. However, it’s also a reminder that pavement, sand, and other surfaces which can retain heat can become significant hazards to bare feet. In fact, blacktop can get dangerously hot on even “cool” days, reaching temps up to 125˚F when the weather outside is just 77˚F. Going outside to the mailbox, hitting the beach to feel the sand between your toes, or resting your feet on a fire ring at the local campground? Make sure you wear protective footwear.

The American Burn Association website is filled with more burn prevention tips, and information about ways you can get involved with #NBAW2020.

Preventable Burn Injuries May Entitle Victims to Compensation

If you have questions about preventable burn injuries and your right to compensation, our legal team is readily available to help. Call (361) 238-2789 or contact us online 24/7 to discuss a potential case. Bandas Law Firm proudly serves victims and families throughout Corpus Christi and the surrounding areas of Texas.

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